Speaking after Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Rapid Wien, whilst looking ahead to this weekend’s Premier League tie against Leicester, Mikel Arteta hailed the impacts of Gabriel and Thomas Partey.
The duo were solid in that Europa League victory and have made an encouraging start as they look to establish themselves as the reliable spine of the Arsenal team.
Arteta admitted that Gabriel and Partey were the ‘profile of players’ that he was looking for to strengthen the squad, with the Spaniard stating it took a ‘lot of work’ to secure these signings.
The former Gunners captain turned boss also thanked the board and ownership for their ‘support’ when it came to approving these transfers.
As per the Independent, Arsenal’s ownership approved the move to trigger Partey’s £45m (€50m) release clause at Atletico after a personal request from Arteta, with Gabriel costing £27m (Guardian).
“Well, when we made all the preparations to try to find the right profile of players to improve our squad, we found those two players.”
“It’s a lot of work behind that from a lot of people at the club in terms of recruitment and sporting director and obviously the support that we got from the board and the ownership to acquire them.”
“So we are really happy, and we can see that it’s a bit early to say that but we have recruited what we thought we were recruiting which is always positive.”
The north London outfit have been in dire need of a commanding centre-back and box-to-box midfielder for years now, with Partey and Gabriel hoping to answer those glaring problems.
Arsenal sit sixth in the Premier League table ahead of tomorrow night’s clash, behind Leicester on only goal difference, this will be a clash between two sides hoping to secure a top four finish.
It will be interesting to see whether Arteta starts the club’s two seemingly most important signings of the summer against the Foxes.
Gabriel has started and played the entire 90 minutes in all but one of the Gunners’ league games this season, whilst Partey who arrived made his debut with a cameo off the bench against Manchester City.
Former Arsenal ace Michael Thomas went on record with us after the first game of the season to highlight some of Gabriel’s strengths and the solid presence that he brings to the side’s defence.
Arteta has enjoyed a great start to his time as manager, transforming the club and team, the Gunners actually look like a side that are balanced enough to be serious contenders for a top four spot.